When someone says "your stupid", what do you think?

Question

Do you think, “My stupid? What the hell are you talking about?”? Do the people who say this actually think they’re insulting you? I would never take any person seriously unless they said, “You're stupid”. If that were the case, I’d identify my mistake and apologize for it. I put this question in the primary and secondary education section because anyone answering this question should be at or beyond this level of English language comprehension. If not, you're not old enough to use this site.

Ah, JO M. You have demonstrated your sub-1st grade intelligence once again. Go play in the sandbox, now.

27 people have answered so far, and I can count on one hand the number of people who actually understood the question. For the people who didn’t get it, did you even read the whole question? I don’t see how anyone couldn’t understand what I’m asking unless that person didn’t read the whole question. To those about to answer, READ THE WHOLE QUESTION FIRST! I’m asking about people not knowing the difference between “your” and “you're”.

Answer 1

It's entertaining that some people that have responded don't get it. Clearly they didn't catch the error in the question and/or they didn't read the rest of it. I clicked on this one to say "You're stupid." After I read the details, I wanted to give you a high 5.

Answer 2

Interesting question.

I checked the American Heritage Dictionary and noticed that the first definition listed for the word stupid is "Slow to learn or understand."

My personal experience has been that in some instances, I've had difficulty understanding information written by others. So, by definitions, I guess I've been stupid at times. But interestingly enough, I've never felt stupid. I just thought the material wasn't written very well. You know, if it had been written well, I want to believe I would have easily understood it. Made sense to me.

Also, sometime ago, I read an interesting article about insults in the Washington Post. The columnist claimed that being insulted was a matter of choice. He pointed out that to be effective in insulting another person, someone had to first utter the insult, and then other person had to accept it and allow himself to be offended by it. The trick to avoiding insults then is to never accept one. Whenever someone throws an insult your way, just say "Thanks for thinking of me, but I can't allow myself to accept your comment. Keep it for yourself, or give it to someone else--your choice. I don't want it."

The idea of detachment is also helpful in dealing with insults. And by detachment, I mean being able to mentally rise above the situation, look down on it, and ask yourself what would be the best thing for the person representing you to do if the indicent were being televised to the whole world. Should he lower himself to the level of the insulter and spew insults back at him? Or should he rise above the level of the insulter and say something that is designed to diffuse the situation? Hmm. Think about it. And remember, the whole world is watching. How would you want to be viewed by the whole world?

An example of something that would serve to diffuse the situation would be "I suspect I've inadvertently said or done something to offend you. Could you tell me what that was so that I can make it right?"

I understand your point about the words "your and you're." And it's a very good one. You certainly seem like the more knowledgeable one (keeping in mind that I haven't heard the other guy's side of the story). But imagine what might have happened if you exercised detachment and wrote back a few sentences designed to diffuse the situation.

Certainly, everyone involved (you, him, and your audience of readers) would recognize that a hot head who is quick to spew out insults has a lesser mentality. And that the individual who has the intelligence to come up with words that will diffuse a potentially volatile situation has a superior mentality. That's always good for the ego.

Hope you find the thoughts I've shared with you to be of value.

Answer 3

Evidently people are not understanding your question. You're trying to tell the difference between the word "your" and "you're". Some people do not know the difference between proper grammar and street slang. It's like saying, "Are "yall" going to the store?

It really annoys me as an English major and a teacher. I am continously correcting people that make grammatical errors.

Answer 4

When someone says "you're stupid" or "stupid!" it doesn't necessarily mean you are- if a friend or relative says it ( although it is better not to be use by anyone) sometimes they mean THAT was stupid- the action you did, so sometimes it is said in a way that was not meant to offend one personally but rather the action.

If friends or relative say it -then it better to say, "What you did was stupid?" or even better not use it at all- these days however even worse 'language' is being used.

However, if someone who is not your friend says it- it's better just to ignore them. Don't let their negative behaviour have an effect on yours , think above them and don't dignify them with a response.

Answer 5

Nearly nobody says that to me, except for strangers or drunks. But I hear "you're very intelligent" a lot. I've lived long enough to know that I'm not stupid. Ignorant, maybe; stupid, no.

Answer 6

I think that I said something so incredible , that the listener thinks that , what I said could not be true . What I said could be true , although it sounds far-fetched. I keep my cool, because I know some-thing high that most people do not know . How-ever others may know that I say what is true, and may take me very seriously ; and they should .

Answer 7

I can't tell the difference between the your and you're. If you can, I don't think you are stupid, so it isn't an insult to you.

Answer 8

I don't really think about anything, I'm just so used to hearing it, lol. I've never been called stupid in a mean way though. It was always my friends and they had a good reason to call me that....that seems to happen a lot.

Answer 9

I'm not perfect at grammar, but things like that are incredibly annoying. It's even worse when you see them on public signs. I don't believe people check the things they write before they submit things.

Answer 10

If I did something stupid I would acknowledge it and deal with it. If I didn't I would wonder if the person knows what the word means.